Malaysian police detained 54 Burmese migrant workers on Saturday because they lacked proper documentation, Malaysian newspaper The Star reports. The group was turned over to the Immigration Department. Last week, about 1,000 Burmese were apprehended following clashes in Malaysia between Burmese Buddhist and Muslims. The incidents, which killed two, were a spillover of recent sectarian unrest in Burma. Officials claimed the workers had been “picked up” to prevent further violence. They said that 196 of those apprehended lacked proper documentation. Migrant workers told The Irrawaddy however, that they felt threatened by hostile attitudes of Malaysia’s Muslim-majority population towards them. They claimed that a crackdown on Burmese migrants was under way.
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